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by anotherNear
Summary: When Matt recives an unexpected call from an old friend, his boring life screeches to a halt. What will it be like with his best friend back by his side? Sequel to "Mello, I Hope It Gives You Hell"


_**Disclaimer: Don't own it, didn't do it, you can't prove anything kthnxbai.**_

The phone rang in the other room, and the young man tapping away at his gameboy stood up slowly, making his way towards the phone.

It rang again, and he picked up, hitting the "pause" button with his thumb. "Yeh-llo?" He answered, as cheerfully as he could. _Who in their right mind would call at this hour of the night?!_

"Matt…" The voice on the other end of the phone panted, and the redhead almost dropped the phone in shock. _That voice, I know that voice._

"The alley… Behind the old Thai restaurant on 12th… Hurry…"

Matt slammed the phone down and flew through his apartment to his bedroom, pulling on a furry vest _(That voice…_ _That voice… He's still alive?) _then back to the kitchen, grabbing his keys and goggles from the counter. He took the stairs seven at a time down to the lobby , and out the main door into the parking lot outside of his apartment building. Sirens blared in the distance

_(Dear god, had he been in an accident?) _and he jumped into his car, fumbling his goggles down over his eyes. The car roared to life, and he floored it as soon as her was out of the parking lot, surpassing the speed limit by a great deal. He had never been caught speeding (the cops were never very on top of things) _(Why can't this fucking car go any faster?!) _And tonight wasn't an exception. He screamed along 12th, breaking sharply in front of the ancient, dilapidated Thai restaurant.

He lit a cigarette and took a drag in a futile attempt to calm himself, and he slowly walked into the alley. _What the fuck is that smell…?_

A black shadow was hunched against the base of one wall, near a dumpster. Matt walked cautiously over, reaching his hand down. "Mello…" He said quietly.

The other man flinched away from his touch and let out a whimper similar to that of an animal caught in a trap _(Dear god, what happened to Mello?) _and Matt wet his lips nervously.

Mello raised his head slightly, his long hair covered the worst of the burns on his face. He reached up and wrapped his arms around Matt's neck as the other lifted him carefully, trying not to breath too much. The stench of burned hair and flesh was overwhelming. Mello made it into the back seat of Matt's car before he passed out, exhausted and writhing in pain.

Matt drove slowly on the way home, all the windows on the car rolled down. He blinked hard, holding back the suppressed tears. _He left me… And now he expects me to take him in?_

_(Oh, but of course I will why wouldn't I?)_

The last time he had seen Mello was four years ago, right after Near was chosen to become L's successor. He hadn't even said goodbye. He was gone, and that was that. He hadn't seen or heard from him since.

Matt lit another cigarette, running a hand through his hair and exhaling heavily.

Climbing the stairs had been a small challenge for Matt. Mello was heavier than he looked. Matt kicked open the door to his apartment, a few people that lived on the same floor as him staring at the small blonde in Matt's arms in interest. _(God, why are people so fucking nosy?!)_

Matt glared at them before slamming the door shut behind him.

"Oh, Mello…" He murmured as he lay the blonde down on his bed, brushing golden locks out of Mello's face, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks.

He recoiled and gagged, the slight of the burned, bubbling flesh on Mello's face almost too much for him to take. He backed away, putting his hands up to his face, gagging again.

After a few minutes, his stomach calmed, and he peeked between his fingers at Mello's sleeping form. Matt took a few deep, slow breaths and tiptoed back over to the bed. _Guess I have to take that stupid leather vest off. Holy hell, how? It's fused to his fucking skin!_

Matt grabbed the scissors from the knife block in the kitchen. He cut the largest sections away first, before carefully cutting and peeling the melted leather away from the burns on Mello's back and shoulder. Mello would often writhe and moan in his sleep, but he never woke. Matt nearly threw up, and had to stop numerous times to let his stomach settle. He was finished in less than two hours, and he let out a slow shaky breath as he looked at Mello's slender and battered body.

Mello awoke the next night in Matt's soft bed, confused, his vest gone, and his long blonde hair pulled back into a short ponytail at the back of his head. The shades were up, and he could see the moon through the open window. Matt walked out of the bathroom, toweling his hair. He let out a soft mewling noise when he saw Mello's emerald eyes glaring up at him, as if daring him to laugh. _Ohlord, I wouldn't laugh, I've never seen anything less funny._

"Mello," Matt muttered, and fell to his knees next to the bed, tears streaming down his face. _Why Mello?! Why did this happen to someone as pretty and perfect as Mello?!_

Mello reached out as touched the side of Matt's face softly, tracing his fingers along the younger man's jaw. Matt grasped Mello's hand a he stood back up, blinking hard.

"Can you talk?" Matt asked, sapphire eyes wide with worry, still holding Mello's hand, as if he was afraid his best friend would disappear again.

Mello smiled, wincing in pain. "Barely," He said, almost without moving his lips.

"Can you still swallow?"

"Yeah… pro..bably…"

Over the next three weeks, Mello stayed in bed, only getting up to use the bathroom and to bath when Matt made him. He would only wear Matt's shorts, refusing to wear any kind of shirt because they would stick to his burns.

Matt had fun experimenting with his blender, turning anything and everything into a pulp so Mello could eat it without having to chew. Mello would grimace while choking down liquidated pizza, steaks, pancakes, or whatever Matt had felt like blenderizing.

When Matt thought of it (sometime around the fifth day), he took two chocolate bars from his fridge and melted them into a small amount of milk to make a glass of liquid chocolate. He grinned to himself as he carried the cup into Mello.

Mello's emerald eyes opened into thin slits and Matt sat down next to him on the bed, putting an arm behind the blonde's head. His smiled broadened as he held the cup up so Mello could see what it was.

Mello lowered his head, his hair falling over his face as a light blush crept over his cheeks. _I'm such an asshole to Matt… _"Don't you have something better to do? Work?… Don't you have a girlfriend?"

Matt's smiled widened even more as he positioned himself so he was sitting behind Mello, his smaller friend leaning against his chest. "I just work at a computer-repair shop. Hah, go figure, right? Anyways, I told them I needed a few weeks off to take care of my older sister who was just released from the hospital. And, heh, even if they came to check up on me, I could pass you off as a girl, s'long as they don't see that you don't have tits." He laughed and put his arms around Mello as the blonde growled and elbowed him. He could tell Mello was just trying to hide the fact that he was blushing.

A few nights later, Matt, half-awake on his couch, heard Mello whimper in his sleep, and the bed squeak quietly. There was a long silence, then suddenly the couch sagged under added weight, arm's wrapped around Matt's neck, and a face pressed into the tender flesh between his collarbone and shoulder. Matt's fingers instinctively buried themselves in in the soft blonde locks, his other arm protectively curling around the other man's abdomen. They lay in comfortable, sleep-heavy silence until, without warning, Mello moved his head, and kissed Matt's jaw softly. Matt opened his eyes blearily, and pulled Mello hard against him, smiling into the top of Mello's golden head.

"I love you." Matt murmured, inhaling Mello's soft scent.

Mello made a low breathy sound, pulling himself as close to Matt as physically possible, pressing his face hard into Matt's neck.

Grinning, Matt began to slip back into sleep. _I know what he means, even if the bitch's to scared to say it himself. _"Welcome home, Mello."

**_My first Matt x Mello fanfiction! Yay! I wrote this before I wrote "Mello, I Hope It gives You Hell", so some random details may be a bit different or something. I didn't really decide I Hope It Gives You Hell was going to be a prequel to this until after I finished writing it. Anyways. I hope you liked this. Read, review, whatever. Thanks. ^-^_**


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